TrashMe

For one month I wore every single piece of trash that I created, while living like the average American. Why? To create a visual of how much trash a typical person in the USA creates. That’s 4.5 pounds of trash per day so be prepared, it added up quickly! Here’s the transformation and story in photos.
(Find out more about the project here)

Welcome to the FAQ for Trash Me. Here I cover all of the questions people have been asking. Before diving into the questions though I’d like to explain the project in a little more depth to help you understand what I did and why.

For 30 days I wore every single piece of trash that I created while living like the average American in terms of consumerism. The average American creates 4.5 pounds of trash per day and I aimed to live the lifestyle that results in this. Normally I aim to live a near zero waste lifestyle so this is not a lifestyle that I am accustomed to. But for the 30 days I went about life in a manner that is very normal in the USA. I ate, shopped, and consumed like so many of us are accustomed to in this country. The only big difference is that I had to wear every piece of trash that I created instead of putting it into a garbage can.

Most people never think twice about their trash. Once it’s in the garbage can, it’s out of sight, out of mind. Many of us have seen photos and videos of overflowing landfills, oceans littered with trash, animals with plastic stuck around their bodies, and dead animals with stomachs full of plastic, but few of us see past these visuals to our personal connection to it. By wearing all of my trash for 30 days the idea is to create a shocking and unforgettable visual of how much trash just one person creates so that people can understand that they are actually a part of these issues. Once the conversation has been started and people are thinking about it I hope to inspire people to make positive changes in their lives to create less trash.

We live in an era when it’s so easy to have no idea of how any of our daily actions impact our community, humankind, other species, or the earth as a whole. I’m always looking for ways to get people to think about how their actions affect the world around them both near and far. I try to keep things very entertaining so that it reaches people whether they care about the environmental or social issue that I’m focusing on. Because we live in such a visually oriented generation I look for visual ways to make a point or grab people’s attention. For bringing attention to how much trash we create I thought what better way to than to wear it on me everywhere I go. No out of sight out of mind mentality is possible that way!